Traditions, Translations, and Truth: What Christianity Took, Kept, and Freed

Human beings have always clothed their faith in symbols—trees, fire, water, bread, eggs. The question isn’t whether Christians borrowed from pagans, but whether symbols can be emptied of one meaning and filled with another. Christianity’s story with culture is less about stealing and more about reshaping—and sometimes, sadly, about destroying.

Early Christianity: Translators, Not Thieves

In its first centuries, Christianity spread without political backing. Missionaries had no armies, no crowns—just stories and symbols. And they knew this: people don’t abandon their culture overnight. If you want them to hear the gospel, you need to speak in their language.

Take a few famous examples:

• The Boniface Oak (Germany, 8th century): Saint Boniface chopped down the sacred oak of Thor, but instead of leaving a void, he pointed to a nearby evergreen as a symbol of Christ’s eternal life. That tree, in time, became the forerunner of the Christmas tree.

• December 25th: Aligned with Roman solstice festivals, but reframed as the birth of the true “Light of the World.”

• Eggs and bunnies: fertility symbols long before Christ, but repurposed as signs of resurrection and new life.

This wasn’t theft—it was translation. The Church spoke in the cultural “dialect” people already understood, redirecting symbols toward Christ.

When Mission Met Empire

Centuries later, the tone changed. By the 15th–19th centuries, missionaries often traveled alongside colonizers. Ships carried not only priests and Bibles, but flags and muskets. Christianity was no longer an outsider faith; it was tangled up with imperial ambition.

• Africa: Missionaries sometimes worked as scouts for colonial powers, softening resistance by teaching obedience to European rulers under the guise of Christian virtue. Conversion was tied to adopting European dress, language, and customs.

• Native Americans: Boarding schools run by missionaries in the U.S. and Canada sought to “kill the Indian, save the man.” Children were stripped of language, ritual, and heritage in the name of “Christian” civilization.

• Asia: The Jesuits in China (16th century) tried integration—allowing Confucian rituals and translating Scripture into local categories. But when Rome cracked down, fearing “syncretism,” China shut the door to missions for centuries.

Here, Christianity shifted from bridge-building to bulldozing.

Why Eradication Replaced Integration

So why did the Church’s approach harden?

1. Empire’s Backing
   Early missionaries were powerless, so persuasion was their only tool. Once backed by empires, coercion seemed quicker—and conquest demanded uniformity.

2. Fear of Syncretism
   Church leaders worried that integration blurred boundaries. Instead of trusting the gospel’s ability to purify culture, they tried to wipe the slate clean.

3. Political Agendas
   Many “missionaries” served empire first, Christ second. Teaching submission to colonial rule was often as important as teaching the Lord’s Prayer. Faith became a cover for control.

The result? Cultures silenced, heritages erased, and Christianity remembered as an instrument of conquest rather than liberation.

Traditions: Fun, Meaningful, or Empty?

But here’s where we need balance. Not every custom has to be thrown out. Human beings have always marked time with feasts, food, decorations, and playful rituals. Dyeing eggs, trimming trees, lighting candles—these things can be delightful reminders of history and ways to build community. They carry the weight of memory, like heirlooms passed down.

Christianity makes an important distinction: faith in Christ frees us from the burden of meaningless ritual.

• If a tradition points us toward joy, beauty, and gratitude, it can be celebrated freely.

• If a tradition becomes superstition—something we believe we must do to earn blessing or avoid curse—it becomes a cage.

The gospel doesn’t bind us to perform rituals to appease God. Christ’s work is complete. Traditions may enrich our lives, but they do not determine our salvation.

This means Christians are free to enjoy cultural practices—eggs at Easter, trees at Christmas, fireworks on New Year’s—without mistaking them for the essence of faith.

Traditions can be beautiful servants but terrible masters. Faith in Christ gives the freedom to participate with joy—or to walk away without fear.

Two Models of Mission

Looking back, we see two starkly different models:

• Integration: “Your culture has seeds of truth—let me show you their fulfillment in Christ.”

• Eradication: “Your culture is worthless—abandon it and take mine instead.”

One dignifies, the other destroys. One sees Christ as Lord of all cultures; the other confuses European culture with Christ.

Reframing the “Stolen” Accusation

So, did Christians steal pagan traditions? The fuller truth is this:

Early Christians adapted cultural symbols as bridges of understanding. Later, when Christianity aligned with empire, some missionaries stopped building bridges and started tearing cultures down—serving politics as much as the gospel.

To call it “theft” misses the deeper reality. The problem wasn’t that Christianity borrowed; it was that later, under colonial power, it stopped borrowing and started bulldozing.

Closing Thought

When Christianity is faithful to Christ, it doesn’t erase cultures—it redeems them. It speaks every language, takes on local colors, and breathes new meaning into old customs.

But when Christianity bows to empire, it forgets its mission. It mistakes domination for discipleship. And the scars of that forgetting remain.

The good news is this: faith in Christ frees us from empty ritual, but also frees us to enjoy traditions as gifts. The gospel doesn’t need to steal or to crush. It has always had the power to translate itself into every human tongue and tradition.